Among vehicle-mounted batteries, there exist batteries which are placed in a luggage space of a vehicle. For example, an auxiliary machine battery which supplies electric power to an auxiliary machinery of a vehicle is mounted in the luggage space of the vehicle. Many techniques have been proposed in the related art for protecting the battery when the vehicle experiences a large impact, such as when the vehicle collides with other objects.
For example, JP 2002-186101 A discloses an auxiliary machine battery placed at a rear part of a rear wheel arch. In JP 2002-186101 A, in order to protect the auxiliary machine battery when the vehicle collides at the front (front collision), a ventilation duct is placed between the rear wheel arch and the auxiliary machine battery. When such a structure is employed, the collision energy is consumed during the process in which the rear wheel arch moving rearward due to the front collision collapses the ventilation duct, and thus, the collision energy applied to the auxiliary machine battery can be reduced and the auxiliary machine battery can be protected.
However, in JP 2002-186101 A, although the protection of the auxiliary machine battery during the front collision is well taken into consideration, protection of the auxiliary machine battery during a rear collision is not sufficiently considered.
Depending on a vehicle, a flange of a rear pillar may protrude behind the auxiliary machine battery. The rear pillar is made of a metal, including the flange. When the metal flange contacts an electric power terminal of the auxiliary machine battery during the rear collision, short-circuiting occurs. While the periphery of the electric power terminal is covered by a terminal cover made of an insulating material, the terminal cover may be detached due to the impact when the rear pillar collides with the auxiliary machine battery. Thus, in the techniques of the related art, there still remains room for improvement in prevention of short-circuiting of the electric power terminal of the battery during the rear collision of the vehicle.
In light of the above, the present disclosure discloses a battery mounting structure which can prevent short-circuiting of the electric power terminal of the battery during the rear collision of the vehicle.